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Comparison of programming languages
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<p><a href="/facts/Programming_language/cWTYbgWa">Programming languages</a> are used for controlling the behavior of a machine (often a <a href="/facts/Computer/SQe1aK05">computer</a>). Like <a href="/facts/Natural_language/B4gLS7Kd">natural languages</a>, programming languages follow rules for <a href="/facts/Syntax/6PxSV98p">syntax</a> and <a href="/facts/Semantics/1L4WwLAP">semantics</a>. </p><p>There are <a href="/facts/List_of_programming_languages/c9HqJl1r">thousands of programming languages</a> and new ones are created every year. Few languages ever become sufficiently popular that they are used by more than a few people, but professional <a href="/facts/Programmer/WGTS1Jv9">programmers</a> may use dozens of languages in a career. </p><p>Most programming languages are not standardized by an international (or national) standard, even widely used ones, such as <a href="/facts/Perl/fx31kjlT">Perl</a> or <a href="/facts/Standard_ML/4LaEq9tA">Standard ML</a> (despite the name). Notable standardized programming languages include <a href="/facts/ALGOL/wlFJGNEx">ALGOL</a>, <a href="/facts/C_(programming_language)/Ky2No763">C</a>, <a href="/facts/C%252B%252B/Et0F2qn9">C++</a>, JavaScript (under the name <a href="/facts/ECMAScript/M7nDHsB5">ECMAScript</a>), <a href="/facts/Smalltalk/Ru2UPVDE">Smalltalk</a>, <a href="/facts/Prolog/r5h66Qh1">Prolog</a>, <a href="/facts/Common_Lisp/mq1pRbSF">Common Lisp</a>, <a href="/facts/Scheme_(programming_language)/0aGdf3SC">Scheme</a> (<a href="/facts/IEEE/UddC4pUW">IEEE</a> standard), <a href="/facts/ISLISP/4qnw7Nyn">ISLISP</a>, <a href="/facts/Ada_(programming_language)/Y2yHel4l">Ada</a>, <a href="/facts/Fortran/m1KqjcMU">Fortran</a>, <a href="/facts/COBOL/wVnhqs0k">COBOL</a>, <a href="/facts/SQL/UjQLJcYm">SQL</a>, and <a href="/facts/XQuery/47Ep0fSS">XQuery</a>. </p>